BIO-325 Animal Behavior examines how and why animals behave the way they do, connecting behavior to its underlying biological drivers (genetics, physiology, evolution) and its environmental and social context.
Behavior as biologically and evolutionarily grounded
The course frames animal behavior not as arbitrary, but as shaped by genetics, physiology, and evolutionary pressure — behaviors persist because they contributed to survival or reproduction in some way.
Environmental and social context of behavior
BIO-325 examines how environment and social structure shape behavior, recognizing that the same species can behave differently depending on habitat conditions, group dynamics, and environmental pressures.
Key topics in BIO325
- Evolutionary basis of animal behavior
- Genetics and physiology underlying behavior
- Communication and social behavior in animals
- Environmental influences on behavior
- Behavioral observation methodology
- Case studies in animal behavior research
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Worked example: behavior as evolutionary strategy
- Surface observation: An animal displays a specific warning call when a predator is near
- Evolutionary explanation: This behavior persists because it improved group survival, favoring individuals and groups that exhibited it
- Lesson: BIO-325 teaches that animal behaviors are rarely arbitrary — understanding their evolutionary logic reveals why they persist
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Frequently asked questions
A behavior that seems puzzling or arbitrary at first glance — an animal risking its own safety to warn others of danger, for example — often makes sense once understood as a trait that improved survival or reproductive success for the individual or its close relatives over evolutionary time, meaning the 'why' behind a behavior explains far more than the 'what.' BIO-325 focuses on this evolutionary grounding because it transforms behavior study from mere description into genuine scientific understanding of cause.
Behavior isn't fixed and identical for every individual of a species regardless of circumstance — factors like resource availability, population density, and social hierarchy can meaningfully change how animals of the same species behave in different situations, meaning studying behavior only in one context risks drawing overly general conclusions. BIO-325 covers this context-dependence because accurate behavioral science requires accounting for how environment and social structure shape the behavior being observed, not assuming behavior is uniform across all conditions.